Alekhine-Levitsky match

This contest, scheduled to begin on the 28th inst. in St. Petersburg, will doubtless prove of great interest.  It brings together the winners of the All-Russian Amateur Tournaments of 1909 and 1911, under conditions most propitious for exciting play: the winner of the match to be the first to score seven wins; draws not to be reckoned in the score; and all games to begin with the moves 1.e4 e5, with the Four Knights' and Ruy Lopez openings being excluded.  Added interest is provided by the fact that Levitsky won both his games against Alekhine at last year's All-Russian tourney in Vilnius, a result the young Muscovite will surely look to avenge in the battles to come.

We are most pleased to announce that we will present the games of this match, with brief comments by Alekhine, within a day or two of each being played.  For this extraordinary possibility we are indebted to the special kindness of an anonymous benefactor, a true friend of chess possessing knowledge of the Russian language, who has made special arrangements to receive all pertinent information by cable and to translate it for the benefit of our readers.  We cannot thank him enough.  Russia boasts a long and storied chess tradition, yet much of what takes place there, and much of what is written, often remains unknown to aficionados in other lands, the Cyrillic alphabet and the inherent complexity of the Russian tongue making chess publications in that language well-nigh incomprehensible to all but a lucky few.  A man willing to sacrifice his time and toil in the difficult work of translation, all in order to share freely the riches of Russian chess with the English-speaking world, is a man deserving of the gratitude of every chess player, and we are certain that we speak for all our readers when we express our heartiest thanks and say, Well done, sir!

We append three games as samples of the play of the antagonists in the coming struggle, among them one of the victories scored by Levitsky over Alekhine in last year's Vilnius event.